What does the future hold for sexist and stereotyping advertising?

The future is changing rapidly; demographics and cultural changes mean that the traditional understandings of femininity and masculinity entrenched in our society are quickly losing relevance. In response to these societal changes, on 17 May 2018, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP – the organisation that regulates advertising in the UK) published a consultation paper, together with guidance, outlining a proposed new rule tackling gender stereotyping in advertising. CAP is inviting responses from advertisers, and anyone else who holds views in relation to the proposal, by 26 July 2018, following which CAP will consolidate and publish a finalised version of the consultation paper.

The primary purpose of the consultation is to put forward a new rule to crack down on sexism and gender stereotyping in advertising; particularly in relation to messages that suggest activities are gender-specific or reinforce negative gender perceptions.

Importantly, CAP proposes that complaints will be considered from the eyes of those represented in ads, rather than from the perception of the advertisers creating them. This means that, in investigating complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will be less inclined to dismiss such complaints by labelling the depicted representations as ‘banter’. By focusing on the perspective of those represented in ads rather than relying on whether a stereotype reflects a ‘generally accepted standard’, CAP prioritises the type of harm that might be perpetuated by the depiction and reinforcement of gender stereotypes.

The proposed new rule

The draft rule under consultation, which will cover broadcast and non-broadcast media, is:

“Advertisements must not include gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence.”

Although it will be helpful to have a specific reference in the codes to gender stereotyping, the draft rule, on its own, arguably doesn’t change the existing position. The CAP code already provides that ads must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence (with particular care given to causing offence on the grounds of, among other things, gender). Indeed, it is the existing ‘Harm and Offence’ rules which the ASA has relied on to-date to tackle sexist advertising and harmful gender stereotyping.

Fortunately, CAP has also produced the guidance paper to give further colour to what is expected of advertisers.

The guidance

The guidance covers the depiction of stereotypes in a wide range of scenarios: gender-stereotypical roles and characteristics; pressure to conform to an idealised gender-stereotypical body shape or physical feature; ads aimed at or featuring children or vulnerable groups; and ads featuring people who don’t conform to a gender stereotype.

The guidance paper lists a number of examples to assist advertisers with understanding the scope and application of the proposed new rule, such as:

• Advertisers can feature idealised bodies and physical features stereotypically associated with women (eg. a ‘small waist’) or men (eg. a ‘six-pack’), but they need to take care to avoid the suggestion that an idealised body or a physical feature correlates with happiness or a person’s emotional wellbeing. Accordingly, there is not a blanket ban on featuring idealised physiques in advertising, but it should always be considered from the perspective of those people who are represented, or targeted by those ads.
• Where children are featured in ads, the ads may be targeted at and feature a specific gender, but should take care not to explicitly convey that a particular children’s product, pursuit, activity, including choice of play or career, is inappropriate for one or another gender.
• Ads should be sensitive to the emotional and physical wellbeing of vulnerable groups of people who may be under pressure to conform to a particular gender stereotype.
• Advertisers should avoid mocking people for not conforming to stereotypes, including in a context that is intended to be humorous.

Enforcement

Once the new gender stereotyping rule is finalised and added to the CAP and BCAP Codes (expected later this year), its enforcement will be undertaken in the same manner as the other CAP and BCAP Code rules. If the ASA receives a complaint, it will be examined under the ASA’s prioritisation principles which:

• considers what harm or detriment has occurred or might occur;
• balances the risk of taking action versus inaction;
• considers the likely impact of our intervention; and
• considers what resource would be proportionate to the problem to be tackled.

Once the ASA has considered these principles, it will decide whether to investigate a complaint. If the ASA finds that an ad has breached the CAP or BCAP Codes, it will seek assurances from the responsible advertiser and the clearance centres (in the case of broadcast advertising) and the ad will either be withdrawn or amended.

The outcome of each adjudication is published by the ASA on its website. These publications are carefully monitored by journalists who will often write about them in the press, meaning that an adverse adjudication can have severe PR implications for brands. Other sanctions, for severe or repeated infringements, include being referred to the Trading Standards Authority and/or Ofcom, which have the power to fine advertisers or to withdraw licences to broadcast.

Stereotyping advertising – the message is clear

In response to the consultation and guidance, advertisers will need to adopt a more cautious approach to comply with new standards. The message being sent to advertisers is clear – sexist and negative stereotyping advertising belong in the past. Gender equality has become an important agenda in modern society and it is incumbent on the industry to take a progressive and responsible approach to ensure that this agenda is supported and reinforced through advertising.

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Other GMA articles about ethics and standards in advertising include:

‘Why it’s not racist for marketers to treat different ethnic groups differently’

‘Protect your reputation: the counterfeit epidemic is damaging brands like never before’